Saint Leo University Athletics issued the following announcement on Nov. 10.
The Saint Leo volleyball team fell Wednesday night in Sunshine State Conference action to visiting Embry-Riddle, 3-0. The Lions held the lead for most of the first set and the majority of the second set but the Eagles were able to pull out late comebacks and secure the three-set sweep.
The loss drops Saint Leo's record to 11-17 on the season including 5-12 in SSC action. The Eagles improved to an impressive 23-4 overall and 11-3 in league action.
The Lions struggled to get the offense rolling most of the match but the defense up front was top notch as Saint Leo posted 13 blocks in just three sets led by sophomore Madelyn Eden who had a team-high eight blocks including one solo stop. Eden also added four kills. Sophomore Ally-Reese Williams added six block assists and four kills while freshman Colby Stempkowski chipped in four blocks.
Junior Madi Certain led the offense with 11 kills while picking up three digs and a pair of blocks. Senior Brooke Turner and redshirt junior Elizabeth Sandoval each chipped in five kills. Turner added 10 digs to her effort as well.
Senior libero Payton Bellano had a team-high 18 digs to move to 1,350 for her career. The 18 digs pushed her past 400 for the season and also moved her into fourth in the Saint Leo career record books for digs surpassing Christiana Florea (1999-02) who had 1,334 for her career. She needs just 56 more to tie for third all-time and 62 to move into a tie for second.
Senior Anna Garrett had 14 assists as she split time with junior Skylar Singleton who chipped in seven. Garrett also added a pair of blocks while Singleton tallied seven digs.
The Lions led 14-9 midway through the first set and held that lead until the 22-22 mark as the Eagles used a 5-1 run to tie up the set. The Lions went up 23-22 before a quick 2-0 spurt from the Eagles flipped the script and gave Embry-Riddle its first set point of the night. A kill from Stempkowski evened the set at 24 before an Eagle kill and a Saint Leo error ended the set 26-24.
The Lions led early in the second set as well but a 4-0 run by the Eagles midway through the period gave Embry-Riddle a 16-14 lead. The Lions would not retake the lead the rest of the set as the Eagles pulled away late for a 25-21 victory. The Eagles jumped out to the early lead in the third set but the Lions clawed their way back into the set at tied the period at 10-10. The score would remain within one or two points for most of the period until a late 4-1 run gave the Eagles a 24-20 lead and match point. The Lions were able to fight off three match points including a kill from Eden followed by back-to-back blocks but the Eagles ended the match with a kill at 25-23.
The Lions will return to action Saturday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. as the Rollins Tars visit the Marion Bowman Activities Center for the final home match on the Lions' schedule. Saint Leo will honor its four seniors, Payton Bellano, Anna Garrett, Ashley Quero and Brooke Turner prior to the first serve.
Original source can be found here.
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